Saturday, September 19, 2015

It Happened in England: Chelsea bully Arsenal to earn second Premier League win

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Chelsea needed to get back on PRemier League form after only finding one win in their first five matches. Arsenal, meanwhile, has struggled of late in their trips to Stamford Bridge, and this match wouldn't change that.

The first half wasn't exactly fast paced, but it was pretty back and forth. One side would get a decent spell of possession aided by some sloppy clearances by a couple of weakened back lines. The finishing wasn't quite there for either team, however, and the first half left us without a goal. That doesn't mean the match was without its fireworks. In the final minutes of the half, Diego Costa and Laurent Koscielny got in a small tussle in the Arsenal penalty area. After a slightly heated exchange, Gabriel came in and had a few words for the Chelsea forward. After both players were shown yellow cards, Gabriel simply let his immaturity get the best of him. He just gave a little heel to Costa in anger and was sent off for his lack of self control. Because the young defender was unable to keep his head on straight, Arsenal were forced to try and exorcise their Chelsea demons with only ten men.

Needless to say, Chelsea was on the front foot once the second half got started. A free kick in the 53rd minute found the head of Kurt Zouma for Chelsea's the seemingly inevitable go ahead goal. From that point on, Chelsea was content with passing the ball back and forth between their midfielders. Arsenal, was shockingly okay with them doing so. That said, the counter attacking chances were there, Arsenal just weren't able to make anything of them.

Just when Arsenal looked to be making some headway in the attacking game, disaster struck once again. In the 78th minute, Santi Cazorla was shown a second yellow card for a late sliding challenge and Arsenal were down to nine players. It was now just a matter of survival for the Gunners. If Chelsea were good at playing keep away before, now they were just masters of it. Being two men down made winning the ball back a most difficult proposition. And when possession was won, it was difficult to send men forward ahead of the Chelsea defense. Chelsea did earn a fluky second goal just after the 90 minutes passed by. Eden Hazard took a shot that took a deflection into the wide open goal.

Chelsea will take the win to get back on tack in the Premier League. It is only their second of the season . Arsenal, on the other hand, will have to feel like they threw away a point because of their own stupidity. More specifically, that of Gabriel. If he simply walks away from an incident that never involved him in the first place, perhaps a full strength Arsenal guts out a crucial road point.